Religion and Modernity（宗教と近代性）、Public/Private Spaces and Religiosity (パブリック/プライベートスペースと宗教性)という二つのテーマでセッションを行い、一部の研究分担者に加え、ネパールやイラン、ベナンなど異なるアジアやアフリカ地域を研究する研究者が参加した。
研究分担者のファビアン・サンソンが代表者を務め、イスラームと女性、シティズンシップ等に着目した研究計画をフランス政府の競争的研究資金ANR（Agence National de Recherche）に応募し採択された。研究テーマはInequalities, Radicalities and Women’s Citizenries: Plural Islamic Religiosities in the Maghreb/Muslim West Africa Space (RIMA)、フランス、カナダ、西アフリカ地域と日本の11人の研究分担者を含む４年間プログラムで全体の研究資金はおよそ3500万円（272000€）。
「アジア研究国際大会（ICAS）」は1998年から2年に1度開催されている、アジアを中心としたあらゆる分野の研究者が約1500人集う大規模な国際会議です。本会議は、オランダ･ライデン大学に本部を置くIIAS（International Institute for Asian Studies）が1998年に設立して以来、ライデンをはじめベルリン、上海、クアラルンプールなど世界各地で開催されてきました。第12回目を迎える2021年には、初となる日本での開催が決定し、その主催機関に京都精華大学が選定されました。
Religiosity in Modern Spaces. Perspectives from Africa and Asia Session 1 Religionand Modernity
Overall Panel Abstract Institutional Panel Overall Panel Abstract Has religion disappeared from modern spaces? Various case studies conducted in Asia (Japan, Indonesia,Iran, Nepal) and Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal) seem to prove the contrary. Tenresearchers from Kyoto Seika University, Keio University, Hitotsubashi University, and Gaston BergerUniversity in Saint-Louis (Senegal) examine how religiosity – whether monotheistic religions or othertraditional, animistic, or mystical beliefs – constructs modernized living spaces.
In a first panel entitled “Religion and Modernity,” they tackle the interrelations between various politicaland social aspects of modern life on the one hand, and religiosity on the other. The debate highlights theso-called movements of “return to religion” or “return of religions” in contemporary societies, as observedin several countries in Asia and Africa.
How do political authorities react to these movements? What is therelationship between community life and individual beliefs? The second panel, “Public/Private Spaces and Religiosity”, looks at the roles and functions of religions atdifferent scales of modern life. The discussions will focus on the separation but also the “inseparation” ofpublic and private spaces in Asia and Africa; where religiosity and spirituality play an important role inmodern social and political life. For instance, psychological treatments are provided after naturaldisasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 (Noriko Setou, 2021), or as part of end-of-lifecare (N. Kashio, 2012).
These two panels question the very meaning of these so-called modern spheres. In Europe, andparticularly in France, modernity is considered as a certain point of completion of a process called “exitfrom religion” (M. Gauchet, 2004). Examples from Africa and Asian countries prove the contrary. The aimof the debate is to describe how religiosity makes up a major element of modern African and Asiansocieties, by outlining different spheres of life: domestic spheres, social and political spaces, andcyberspaces.
SESSION 1 RELIGION AND MODERNITY
Paper Presentations Contemporary reinterpretation of vodun in Benin Arnaud Zouhou Presentation Abstract One of the characteristics of Vodun in Benin is to take fully into account the problem of change and transformation,as a historical phenomenon and obviously as a spirituality. In this presentation, we propose to make a short genealogy of Vodun in Benin : from its emergence during thecreation of the kingdom of Dahomey (16th century) which led to a reinterpretation of the religious fact, to its morerecent developments. For example, the appearance of new deities within the Vodun pantheon, or new ways of livingthe Vodun, more adapted to modern economic and social constraints. This reflection will lead us to question the points of convergence between the spiritualities of Benin and Japan, whichconstitute my new field of research. By asking myself what makes certain cultures, despite the westernization theyhave experienced, retain a structuring force and a capacity for reinvention based on their tradition, several elementsresonate: the role of rituals, the place of mediating entities (ancestors, deities…), the link to nature, the attention paidto everyday life, the awareness of impermanence and fragility of human life… It seems relevant to explore some correspondences between these worlds, probably due to the strength and anchoringof their respective traditions, and without denying the obvious contrasts that separate Japanese and Beninese realitiesand imaginations. But how to highlight the reasons why in these societies faced to the globalizing wave, they manageto survive and overcome disturbance, scourge or accident by inventing from the past renewed ways of existing?
The Irony of Religious Excess in the Contemporary Iran Kenichi Tani Presentation Abstract In this paper, I will discuss the state regulation of self-flagellation, or qameh-zani, and the shaping of the gazetowards it in modern Iran. Among Hossein’s mourning rituals is a ritual of self-flagellation in which the head is struckwith a sword and blood is shed. This ritual has been practiced among some Shiite people for a long time. However, self-flagellation rituals have been banned in modern Iran since before the Islamic revolution. This ritual has also beencontroversial among Shia jurists. Under the current regime of the Islamic Republic, various measures have been takento stop these rituals, including bans issued by the Supreme Leader. This paper examines the tension between the logicof the modern nation-state and the “Islamic discursive tradition” of the Shia behind the state’s ban on the self-flagellation ritual, using cases of such rituals in Tehran and social reactions to them as examples. What can be pointedout first is the internalization of external values from the enlightened point of view of the modern Western world andthe debate within the Shia discursive tradition. In addition, this paper examines the irony of religious excesses interms of the mobilization of people through religion by the regime. Finally, considering the above, I will consider thetension between religion and modernity in the Iranian regime, which is reflected in the use of various measures by thestate to restrain excessive acts of faith.
The Halal Cosmetics Boom in the Modern Muslim Society of Indonesia Yo Nonaka Presentation Abstract This presentation focuses on halal cosmetics, which have become very popular among Muslim women inIndonesia. Historically, there have been glamorous makeup cultures in various parts of Indonesia. Eventoday, some women wear vivid makeup in accordance with the traditions of their ethnic group at weddingceremonies or dance performances. Makeup has been considered a representation of the identity of ethnicgroups in Indonesia, and it can have ritual and magical meanings. Meanwhile, the visible appearance of the body is directly connected to self-identity in modern society.People cultivate their bodies by adorning and transforming them in order to form and maintain theirself-identities. Indonesia’s Muslim-majority society has changed drastically in the last 30–40 years.Under the authoritarian regime that lasted for more than 30 years until 1998, political Islamicmovements were severely oppressed, and daily religious practices, such as veil wearing wererestricted in some places. However, through the democratization and economic growth, Islambecame much more visible within various aspects of society, and Islamic values became widelyaccepted and practiced as a matter of choice by the people. Under this circumstance, halal cosmeticsgained popularity. Furthermore, Islamic norms are closely followed by people in the practice ofapplying makeup. By analyzing publications and articles about Islamic norms regarding female beauty and makeup aswell as the advertisement and marketing strategy of the recognized halal cosmetic brands inIndonesia, this presentation will clarify why halal cosmetics have gained popularity among womenand affected their sense of beauty.
Transformation of the meaning of the space of worship of Islam Mosques in Mossi Society, BurkinaFaso Takao Shimizu Presentation Abstract
Around 1,300 years have passed since Islam expanded over the Sub-Sahara West Africa. Althoughscholars and religious anthropologists evaluated African Islam as “Black Islam” or Islam in “periphery”,Asad and his followers recently argued that Islam in each society consist with people’s practicesaccording to Islamic tradition like Qur’an and Hadith. They call this “discourse tradition”. (Asad 1986) The five prayers are among the most important Muslim’s daily practices. They prefer praying in themosques (Masjid) with other Muslims. However, according to Qur’an, Muslims may pray at any placeif it is ritually clean. In this presentation, I will consider the transformation of praying areas for Mossi people by analyzingsome pictures of mosques in Mossi land in Burkina Faso. The transformation of these mosquesshows the part of a history of Islam in Mossi land.
SESSION 2 PUBLIC/PRIVATE SPACES AND RELIGIOSITY
Spirituality as an Indicator of the Differences between Public and Private Aspects in Modern Spaces Naoki Kashio Presentation Abstract The aim of this presentation is to think about how public/private aspects are organized in modern spaces by using“spirituality” as an indicator of its differences. “Spirituality” is defined here as ‘non-duality of the body, energy andconsciousness of human existence’ (Kashio & Becker 2021:101), in other words, ‘the core of universal religiosity’(ibid.:3), which “connotes a quality of life, the communality of life in which humans are at one with each other, withthe world and with the universe’ (ibid.:1). Based on the quality of state of consciousness, spirituality is broadlyclassified into two types: personal-conscious spirituality and socio-ethical spirituality. According to this classification,the public aspect of spirituality corresponds to the latter, socio-ethical spirituality, while the private aspectcorresponds to the former, personal-conscious spirituality. That is to say, the private aspect of spirituality is observedas an existential or transcendental state of consciousness, for example in physical practices like meditations, the Wayof arts and martial arts of Asian traditions, while the public aspect is observed as an altruistic thought in culture as aworld of meaning, in social behaviors without asking for anything in return like donation, blood donation orvolunteering. There is a unidimensional correlation between the former and the latter: as the existential andtranscendental state of a personal private consciousness deepens, that consciousness becomes phenomenalized intoaltruistic social behavior in the public world. Kashio, N. & Becker, C. (ed.) (2021). Spirituality as a Way: The Wisdom of Japan, Kyoto University Press.
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Plants souls in Asia and Africa : between spirituality and nature management Frederique Louveau Presentation Abstract Through the study of the relationship with plants developed by the followers of Sukyo Mahikari, anew Japanese religion established in Africa since 1970’, I would like to highlight the way in which thisrelationship leads the superposition of a public space and a private space. Mahikari was created inJapan in 1959 by an officer of the imperial army. Founded around a ritual of purification, it aims torestore the paradise on earth and build a new civilization of purified beings. Its spiritual activities go beyond the framework of the Church to deal with environmental challenges, especiallydesertification. In Africa, the followers become environmental managers as part of the panafricanproject called Great Green Wall, that leads them to work in public space in the same time they built aprivate space. Reforesting involves inside conversation through the soul of plants, as well as amanagement of the public space together political actors. This superposition of private and publicspaces is in the core of my reflexion through the study of relationship to plants at the heart ofenvironmental activities. Based on datas collected through an ethnographic fieldwork with the followers in Senegal, first I willexamine the circulation of the plants conception between Asia and Africa. Secondly, I will highlight theway in which this relationship to plants connects spirituality and management of African nature,resulting in the superposition of a private and public space.
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Considering the Dynamics of the Religiosities and their Relationships with the Public/Private Sphere inNepal Mitsuru Niwa Presentation Abstract In this paper, I shall discuss the introduction of dharmanirapekṣhata , or secularism, and the rise of Hindu Nationalismin Nepal. Nepal had been a Hindu Kingdom until it was made to be a secular republic by the 2007 InterimConstitution. Therefore, Hinduism lost its status of the state religion. The 2015 Constitution also continues to declareNepal as a secular state, and, as a reaction to it, one can observe the trend of growing Hindu nationalism. In thispaper, I’ll focus on one specific Hindu nationalist organization, the World Hindu Federation, which is characterized byits long history as an organization and by its various relationships with successive Nepalese Kings More specifically,I shall, at first, focus on how the concept of dharmanirapekṣhata has been perceived and understood by the WorldHindu Federation. Second, I will proceed to analyze the content and logic of its demand that Nepal must return to aHindu Kingdom, specifically of the kind that doesn’t exclude religious minorities and, instead, encompasses them inpeace and harmony.
Third, I shall focus on the various reactions of the religious minorities to the organization’sdemand and show that a few individuals of the minorities – especially those elites who understanddharmanirapekṣhata as a rejection of religion from the public sphere and who support the demand of the World HinduFederation – have started to appear. Finally, based on the discussions above, I shall consider the dynamics ofreligiosities and their relationships with the public/private sphere in contemporary Nepal.
Islam in Senegal between public and private : from streets to cyber spaces. Kae Amo Presentation Abstract Since the 1990s, Muslim movements are visible in public spaces, notably in the streets of Dakar. Among Sufi groups,organizing prayers or zhikr in public spaces has been part of their daily life for at least the last two centuries. But inrecent decades, a political sense of social reform through Islamic values has been added to these practices. On the one hand, this “return of Islam” or “return to Islam” is analyzed as the consequence of the politicalliberalization in the 1990s, and especially in the 2000s. The new generation invented other ways of doing politics inthe street or on the screen, creating a new political-religious imagery. On the other hand, this religious emergence also hits private spheres. Young Muslims have developed different waysof life and spiritual practices; bringing diversity within the society. Not only the religious or spiritual practices (suchas the zhikr or the wird ), but also the dress codes such as the arrangement of the headscarf for women, or the choiceof certain colors, have led to the emergence of a new “Muslim Way of Life” in today Senegal.
Highlighting the digital spheres will help us understand the new articulation between private and public. Indeed,political issues, and even marital life are regular topics during Islamic conferences broadcasted through socialnetworks (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram). Based on observations and interviews, but also on the analysis ofcyberspaces, this paper questions the transformation of public and private spaces under religious influences amongyoung Senegalese.
La religion a-t-elle disparu dans les espaces modernes ? Les études de cas en Afrique et en Asie montrent que la religiosité fait bel et bien partie de la vie moderne. Organisé par les chercheurs de l’Université Kyoto Seika, l’Université Keio et l’Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis, ce séminaire s’interroge sur la façon dont la religiosité – qu’il s’agisse des religions monothéistes ou d’autres croyances traditionnelles, animistes ou mystiques – s’impose à travers les espaces de vie dits modernisés en Afrique et en Asie.
